X-Men: Evolution
+ )}} all aired) }} :This article is about the TV series. For the homonymous tie-in comics, see X-Men Evolution (comic). X-Men Evolution is an American animated television series created by Greg Johnson and Steve Granat for Cartoon Network. Despite its title, it is not an adaptation of Todd Dezago and Todd Nauck's X-Men Evolution series of comics, but rather, an adaptation of the entire DC Universe with a focus on young superheroes. The series follows the lives of teenaged superhero sidekicks, who are members of a fictional superhero team simply known as X-Men, and their relationships with their Justice League mentors. The story is set at a time where superpowers and superheroes are a relatively recent phenomenon. Production The first two episodes of the series, "Strategy X" and "X Impulse" premiered on Cartoon Network as a special one hour event of the series. Characters Main cast/characters X-Men * Wolverine as Scott McNeil * Jean Grey as Venus Terzo - She is confident and smart, but seems to have trouble choosing a codename. As part of the X-Men, she has helped young mutants get accustomed to their new lives, acting as a bit of a peace-maker when their emotions over being a mutant get the best of them. * Cyclops as Kirby Morrow * Nightcrawler as Brad Swaile - His fun-loving nature can sometimes get Kurt into trouble. For example, while playing around with a machine he discovered in an abandonded lab, he was caught in the "Middleverse" created by a student named Forge, who was himself trapped in this pocket dimension. * Shadowcat as Maggie Blue O'Hara * Rogue as Meghan Black - She has a great deal of angst with respect to her powers, which keep her from ever safely touching anyone. Mentors * Charles Xavier * Storm - Ororo is known for her calm personality and regal manner, and she was even worshipped as a Goddess in Africa due to her ability to summon the rains. * Wolverine * Beast - Beast was a very friendly and warm hearted man when he was not affected by the beast's anger. He was also very smart and he understood egyptian hieroglyphics. Beast remains a genius intellect and a rather refined person. He does like to have fun, though, especially with snowball fights. * Mystique * Magneto Season one The first season of X-Men Evolution follows the origins of the Team, starting from Jean Grey, and Scott summers. The season then proceeds through the Team's missions, and how they interact with one another on and off duty. The main antagonist for the series is Mystique. Greg Johnson has stated that the overall theme of this season is "secrets and lies, and also independence." Season Two The second season saw the addition of several new mutants, including the Beast. During the course of the season it was revealed that the villains who supposedly perished on Asteroid M were in fact alive. Sabretooth, meanwhile, continued his pursuit of Wolverine, while Magneto continued to work his own agenda. Mystique posed as Risty Wilde, a high school student at Bayville High who befriends Rogue, and broke into the mansion, stealing Xavier's Cerebro files. Using the files, she recovered Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, Magneto's daughter and Quicksilver's twin sister. The mentally unstable uber-mutant joined The Brotherhood upon Mystique's return, allowing them to defeat the X-Men in a battle at the Bayville mall. Before the finale, a pivotal episode aired featuring the telepath Mesmero opening one of three doors that would unleash a mutant known as Apocalypse. In the season finale, Xavier rigorously trained his X-Men to face Magneto, pairing them with the Brotherhood. Cyclops, furious with having to work with his former adversaries, left the team. The mansion was later set to self-destruct with Cyclops and several students still inside. Magneto, meanwhile, recruited Sabretooth, Gambit, Pyro, and Colossus as his Acolytes to fight the X-Men/Brotherhood team. At the same time, Wolverine was captured by Bolivar Trask for use as a test subject for the anti-mutant weapon, the Sentinel. The Sentinel was unleashed onto the city, forcing the X-Men to use their powers in public.kiss m but Wanda tracked down Magneto and attempted to crush him with the Sentinel. When the mutants who hadn't been captured by the Sentinel returned to the remains of the mansion, Cyclops and the students emerged from the explosion unharmed. Scott threw Xavier from his wheelchair and blamed him for blowing up the mansion. Xavier calmly stood up, transforming into Mystique. Season Three After the battle with the Sentinel the mutant race was no longer a secret. The public reaction was one of hostility. As the season progressed, the real Xavier was found, Mystique defeated, the mansion rebuilt, and the X-Men allowed back into Bayville High. Wanda continued to search for Magneto (who was saved by his son, Quicksilver, at the last minute) until Magneto used the telepathic mutant Mastermind to change her childhood memories. Scott and Jean forged a deeper relationship, while the romance between Shadowcat and the Brotherhood member Avalanche ended. Also, Spyke left the X-Men when his power became uncontrollable, deciding to live with the sewer-dwelling deformities, the Morlocks. As part of the series arc, Rogue loses control of her powers, leading to her hospitalization. During that time, she learned she was the adoptive daughter of Mystique. Mystique, through the visions of the mutant Destiny, foresaw that the fate of Rogue and herself lied in the hands of an ancient mutant that would be resurrected. The return of the long-awaited Apocalypse saga emerged in the season's final episodes. Mesmero manipulated Magneto into opening the second door, and used Mystique and Rogue to open the last, turning Mystique to stone in the process. Now released, Apocalypse easily defeated the combined strength of the X-Men, Magneto, the Acolytes, and the Brotherhood before escaping. Season Four The final (and darker) season contained only nine episodes. In the season premiere, Apocalypse killed Magneto while Rogue murdered Mystique by pushing her petrified figure off a cliff, leaving her distraught son, Nightcrawler, without closure. The Brotherhood became temporary do-gooders, Wolverine's teenage girl clone X23 returned, Spyke and the Morlocks rose to the surface, Shadowcat discovered a mutant ghost, Rogue was kidnapped by Gambit and taken to Louisiana to help free his father, and Xavier attempted to defeat his evil son. In the finale, Apocalypse defeated Xavier and Storm, transforming them, along with Magneto and Mystique, as his Four Horsemen. Apocalypse instructed his Horsemen to protect his four domes, which would turn the entire world population into mutants. In the final battle, the Horsemen were returned to normal and Apocalypse was once again entombed. Rogue and Nightcrawler refused the excuses of their mother, Shadowcat and Avalanche found love once again, and Xavier saw his students reunited as the X-Men. Trivia The first season was very restrictive. The network felt that action shows like Batman: The Animated Series, etc, had gotten too dark and mature for the kid audience they were trying to reach, so they really kept a tight lid on this show. Once the first season aired, and proved to be a big success, they loosened the reigns a little more with each succeeding season. The good side of this, according to Producer/Writer/Director Boyd Kirkland, is that he had always wanted the show to be more character driven than big action-story driven, so the restrictions actually helped play into that. The high-stakes epochs they did later really became more meaningful and poignant because of how much time we had given the audience to get to know and empathize with the characters. Awards X-Men: Evolution won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Live Action and Animation at the 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, on May 16 2003.2 It also won the Cover of the Year Award in 2004 for best animated figure for Beast. It was nominated for several Golden Reel awards as well as other Emmys. Steven E. Gordon, the director of this show, was nominated for the for Production Design in an Animated Television Production for X-Men: Evolution at the 2001 Annie Awards.